


Malicious Compliance

by thechosentwo



Category: Dark Shadows (1966)
Genre: Short One Shot, willie gets caught
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thechosentwo/pseuds/thechosentwo
Summary: Barnabus gives an order with consequences unforeseen to him, but happily exploited by Willie Loomis
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	Malicious Compliance

Willie Loomis was tired. He was almost tired enough that the constant and oppressive terror that he felt, while existing under the thumb of one Barnabus Collins, hardly seemed to matter anymore. The dark circles under his eyes had dark circles of his own, he noticed, running his hand over his jaw to see if he could justify not shaving. There were no plans to entertain the other Collins or important folk today but with a thing like Barnabus you just never knew. With a sigh, he grabbed the rapidly dulling straight razor and a brush full of lather and went about the first of many jobs.  
As he entered the parlor to light his last set of candles for the night, the last remnants light shone through the western windows and Willie offered himself a moment to bask. Late jobs had never been something he shied away from and as a general rule he relished the quiet of long nights. Lately, however, the nights had been anything but quiet. As the sun sank below the sill he heard the tell-tale heart warning him of his Master’s rising. 

The foppish bastard would have been useless without him, thought Willie bitterly. If he had the option to deny him anything he would in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, this aristocrat's rage was backed up by fangs and foul magic. He could no sooner refuse an order as he could throw himself off a bridge. No, he valued himself too highly for that. Although, the drama of it had a certain appeal. He couldn’t help picturing Barnabus’ reaction and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning when Collins swept in. That’d sure show him. 

“Mr. Loomis, I need you to run to town to pick up some supplies for the dining room renovations tonight,” Collins ordered, without so much as a hello, “And while you’re there, please drop these letters off at the post office. I’ll be needing to meet with a few locals soon and the invitations must go out right away.”

Gritting his teeth in a mockery of a smile, Willie took the stack of envelopes. “Yes sir, right away sir,” he said. 

Barnabus frowned at him, perhaps detecting the disdain that laced Willie’s words. This time he chose to ignore it, and simply retreated to the depths of the old house. Besides some snide critiques of his work and suggestions for improvement, Willie spent the night working alone. That was preferable to the alternative. 

Dawn approached and Willie headed towards the door. He was stopped in his tracks before he took a step outside. He closed his eyes. He hated it when Barnabus did this. “My name works just as well, Mr. Collins,” He said.

The voice over his left ear was unsurprising but it still sent chills down his spine. “I needed your attention quickly. The matter is urgent.”

“If it was that urgent you would have told me earlier,” he already had enough to do, and a trip to town was going to take a while. 

He could hear the frown in Barnabus’ voice. If anyone else had tried to speak to him like he was an idiot child, he would have knocked them out. But as it was… the irritation had to take a backseat. “Now, Mr. Loomis, that won’t do at all. You should be thrilled to fulfill this request for me. It’s vital to my goals.”

Sighing, Willie responded, “Well what is it then, wouldn’t want you burnt to a crisp from chattering at me.”

“I need to eat. Find me an animal, a sizable one. Healthy. Clean. By tonight.”

Right. On top of everything else and no sleep at all, Collins wanted him to rustle cattle for him before dark. Willie opened up his mouth to suggest that thieving a two-ton animal in broad daylight (all the feeders had gone to market already this time of year) was a recipe for getting caught, but then snapped it shut. 

“Yessir. I’ll get it done, sir,” he ended up saying, over exaggerating his enthusiasm enough that he was sure Barnabus would read it as sarcasm for once. 

Collins narrowed his eyes at Willie but didn’t say anything. That was fine by him, he thought, all but skipping out to the old car. He’d do exactly as Barnabus asked, and whatever happened would happen. He genuinely did not care anymore. The car started with a rumble, and Willie waved as he passed Ms. Winters on the porch of the new house, whistling a cheery tune. Victoria waved back, smiling but confused. God save that girl. If she was smart she’d quit yesterday and be on the first train back home.  
____________________________________________________________________

It only took a couple of hours for something to be obviously wrong. The candles weren’t lit, which was annoying. More concerning was the fact that Barnabus could not locate Willie Loomis anywhere in the old house. This gave him a few options to consider:

1\. Willie was delayed in town with his tasks  
2\. He was caught up with the rest of the Collins family in the new house, and was either deliberately avoiding him or just lost track of time  
3\. He’d finally taken the chance and run off.

None of those were acceptable. Wherever Loomis was, Barnabus hoped he understood the consequences of defiance. If not, well, there was time to teach him. 

There was no sign of him at the new house either. Ms. Winters and Elizabeth greeted him warmly, however, and staying a little while to talk with them was no hardship. The moment they brought up Willie, Barnabus launched into a series of complaints. Abandoning your post was no way to gain favor with an employer. For once, neither of them seemed surprised by his behavior. Perhaps he had overestimated his own power and underestimated Mr. Loomis’ delinquent proclivities. 

Hunger began gnawing at his bones, and he bid the ladies a good evening before departing to go in search of his wayward handyman. The post office would be his next stop, as it would have been the logical first for Willie that morning. The postmaster on duty hadn’t been there in the morning, but he confirmed the receipt of several envelopes on record with payment from Collins’ account. The store he had picked things up from was closed already, with no sign of Loomis or the car. Cutting and running seemed like the most likely option at this point. 

As Barnabus stalked back towards the main street, he heard his name called from behind him. A police officer ran his way, flagging him down urgently. There was no possible positive outcome from this situation. Barnabus maintained his cool exterior as the man ran up to him, panting. He was pathetic in his little uniform; as if he had any power over Barnabus Collins. 

“Mr. Collins, sir, I was just on my way to your house,” he said, still bent over with his hands on his knees. “We arrested Willie Loomis earlier this evening, and he said you were his employer, so we figured you oughta know.”

Barnabus’ eyes flashed and he snarled at the officer, losing his composure. “What. Did. You. Say?” 

Willie Loomis did not have the expression of someone properly chastened for his crimes. In fact, he looked rather pleased with himself. He watched Barnabus through the bars of the small jail cell, totally unbothered by his predicament. The guard stood by while Collins approached him, bored. 

“What have you done?”

“Just as you asked, sir. Rustled you up some cattle.”

“How did this happen?”

“Well, you gotta find some cows, and then you just gotta convince 'em to follow you elsewhere.”

Barnabus grabbed the cage door and rattled it violently, causing the guard to yelp and reach for his baton. “Don’t play games with me, Mr. Loomis.”

Much to his frustration, Willie seemed unphased, even amused. Had his control really lapsed after all? 

“No games. Just got caught, you know, since I had to do it before sunset in broad daylight during work hours.”

The guard shook his head and relaxed when it seemed like nothing was going to escalate further. The officer who led Barnabus to the jail reentered the room, carrying a manila folder. Barnabus was half tempted to just kill the both of them and break Willie out. He was tempted, considering the shock and horror it would induce in Mr. Loomis. Consequences to be had indeed. On the other hand, it would be far too much trouble to clean up that particular mess. These gentlemen were upstanding members of the town and would be missed quickly. 

“So, he’s having his arraignment on Friday and after that, he’ll be able to post bail if he wants,” the officer hardly paid attention to the scene in front of him. “It may take a minute to get a court date though, so he’ll have to stay in town.”

Barnabus’ eye twitched. Maybe he should just kill Willie instead. Everyone would believe a suicide if he even bothered to stage it. But… the candles, food, the repairs. Loathe as he was to admit it, it would be difficult to locate another man with the required skill sets in time to stay on track to finish the old house renovation. Friday was three days away. That amount of time alone would be… unpleasant. 

“You’re certain that this can’t be… expedited?” He hated to beg, especially in front of Loomis, but he was rapidly losing control of the situation.

The officer shook his head. “‘Fraid not, Mr. Collins. Judge won’t be back in town until Friday. You may wanna go ahead and look at other employee options,” he said, giving Loomis a frown. “This guy’s trouble. You don’t want a thief hanging around. Hate to let that dirt rub off on you.”

It struck Barnabus that this wasn’t a temporary problem. Willie had a reputation already and this just piled onto it. It was unlikely that he would be able to complete the more delicate tasks as easily with notoriety like that. Still, he was good with his hands. The renovations were more important and Barnabus could work around the rest. It was still more worth it to keep Loomis alive than go through the effort of enthralling another. Damn him. He’d done this on purpose, Barnabus knew it.

Unfortunately, it would be crass to accuse him of such, especially where Barnabus himself could then be implicated in the crime. His eye twitched again, and he ground his teeth. Loomis stretched out on the stiff cot, happy as a clam, taunting him. 

“What’s the matter, Mr. Collins? Something not going your way?”

Oh, what he wouldn’t give to wipe that shit-eating grin off Willie’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> @librastar96 i hope this satisfies xD ily


End file.
